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A Stanley Cup Final, maybe. Or the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Those are the games Winnipeg Jets captain Andrew Ladd says have compared to the feeling he has going into Sunday’s return-of-the-Jets season-opener against Montreal.

“The excitement of playing at Wrigley and having the first hockey game there was close,” Ladd, a 2010 Cup champion with the Blackhawks, said, Saturday. “I don’t think that even really compares to this. It’s a pretty unique experience, playing in a city having lost its team and 15 years later being able to get it back and start over again, fresh. I don’t know if everyone realizes the historic value in what we’re doing. When we look back on it we’ll think it was fun to be part of.”

The game and the days preceding it have some of the trappings of a Cup Final: a festival atmosphere, media from across Canada and the U.S. and a heavy demand for tickets.

“It’s something where you’re getting a lot of phone calls and family wants to come in and watch it,” Ladd said. “It’s just such a lead-up to it, and everything surrounding the event seems to be big.”

Even head coach Claude Noel is making the comparison.

“The biggest thing for me is keeping the players in check when there’s a lot of frenzy around the team, keeping their emotional level in check,” Noel said. “We’ve got some young players not used to this stuff. It’ll be like a seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals. You can draw that picture up all you want, you can visualize it all you want, you can watch Stanley Cups till you’re blue in the face. But until you’re in it — it’s not the same thing.

“I don’t think I’m going to have to charge anybody up.”

Pavelec wants to be price

Ondrej Pavelec wants to go where Carey Price has been (the playoffs) and find the level he’s at, among the elite goalies in the NHL.

But that doesn’t mean the Winnipeg Jets netminder will be looking to the other end of the rink on Sunday in the home opener against the Montreal Canadiens for any extra motivation.

“I enjoy every time I can be on the ice and play a hockey game,” said Pavelec. “It’s always going to be Winnipeg against another team and it doesn’t matter who’s in the net. I try to focus on my play and try to help the team get the two points. I don’t really look at the other side. It’s not important for me. I just try to play my game.”

Fans are fair so far

Winnipeg may be known for its bad roads, but the Jets aren’t getting a rough ride at all, so far.

Former Leafs and Canucks forward Kyle Wellwood says there’s no comparison to the negativity that often rules the day in some Canadian markets.

“I remember going into games where you get down a goal or two in the first period and the fans are already complaining, and upset and emotional about it,” Wellwood said. “Whereas here ... they’ve been real positive. It’s made it real easy for the players to adjust.”

Wellwood says public criticism in Toronto negatively affects some players.

“I don’t notice that in Winnipeg from any of the media or fans. And if the fans continue to support and don’t really enjoy the criticizing part, then the media doesn’t do it. We’re going to make sure we do what we can to keep the fan support.”

Noel likes jets’ chances

Now that the games are about to begin, Noel was asked to predict if his team has what it takes to qualify for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

The response wasn’t an emphatic guarantee, but it’s clear that being among the 16 teams to advance to the post-season is part of the expectations for the Jets.

“I just think we’re ready,” said Noel. “We know the challenge. But we think it’s in our grasp. We’ll see when we start to play against the teams.”

Hainsey remembers Habs

Jets defenceman Ron Hainsey got his NHL start with the Canadiens, playing 33 NHL games over two seasons before he was claimed off waivers by the Columbus Blue Jackets in November of 2005.

“It was exciting to get drafted by that team,” said Hainsey, who was chosen 13th overall by the Canadiens in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. “Things didn’t work out how I would have hoped, for any number of reasons. There were a lot of lessons I had to learn later. But the time I was there, (Jose) Theodore won the MVP and the city really got behind the team again.

“It was a fun place to play when I had the opportunity.”

Rypien to be honoured

Along with wearing the RR on their helmets, the Jets organization will play a video tribute on Sunday prior to puck drop to remember Rick Rypien, who passed away this summer after a lengthy battle with depression.

Among those expected to be in attendance for the opener will be Rypien’s mother Shelley.

Coach got a glimpse

Noel said the Jets’ scrimmage this week was encouraging, in that it showed him how his team thinks the game.

“A lot of our guys were playing chess,” the coach said. “When they’re playing checkers, you got a lot of work to do. You want to be playing chess. And I thought, ‘OK, we got a smart group here.’ They got it.”